February 26th 2025 | DAF

The Cut | Nikki Maloof, 2024

This painting is unsettling, but I can't look away.

Ever since seeing my first Nikki Maloof work (Feb. 5th 2025), I have been interested in her heavy use of pattern in her pieces. Many of her works take place in the kitchen so it is easy to incorporate patterns via the tile work or wallpaper or in somebody's clothes. In this particular piece, Maloof pairs the busy pattern of the woman's jacket against an inverted version of the pattern in the wallpaper, and despite how bizarre the rest of the scene is, this vibrant clash of patterns keeps pulling the viewer's eye. I will glance at the unnerving girl eating the strawberry, but my gaze quickly returns to the pink and yellow floral jumble that takes up the entire top left quadrant and beyond.

Speaking of eye's, the fish's eye feels as if it is following my every move.